Paul Landers

Paul Landers
Background information
Birth name	Heiko Paul Hiersche
Born	December 9, 1964 (age 47) Berlin, Germany
Genres	Neue Deutsche Härte
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Motor Music, Republic, Slash, Universal Music Group
Associated acts	Rammstein, Feeling B, First Arsch, Die Firma, Die Magdalene Keibel Combo, website =
Notable instruments
Music Man EVH Signature and Axis (former) ESP Paul Landers Eclipse Gibson Paul Landers Signature Les Paul

Paul H. Landers (born 9 December 1964 in Berlin, East Germany) is a German musician, notable as rhythm guitarist for the Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein.

Biography

Early life

Paul Landers was born in East Berlin, Germany to a Russian mother. His real name was Heiko Hiersche, which he hated. He lived in Moscow for a short time as a young child. Landers speaks fluent Russian but he can't read or write it. He moved out of his parents' house at the age of 16 due to fights with his stepfather and subsequently switched his first names, also in honor of his biological father. He soon left out Heiko, making his name Paul Hiersche.

Music career

In 1983, Landers formed the East German punk band, Feeling B, together with Flake Lorenz and Aljoscha Rompe, in which Christoph Schneider would later also play. In 1986, Landers formed First Arsch with Till Lindemann and Richard Kruspe. He also played in a number of other bands including Die Firma and Die Magdalene Keibel Combo.

Lindemann, Kruspe, Schneider and bassist Oliver "Ollie" Riedel entered and won the Berlin Senate Metro Beat Contest in 1994 that enabled them to have a four-track demo professionally recorded. Landers and Flake soon followed suit to join the band which became known as Rammstein.

Oddly, he has stated that he does not like rock, but "with Rammstein it seems to work".

Personal life

When he married Nikki Landers in 1984 (at the age of 20), he took his wife's surname, thus making his name Paul Landers.

They later divorced in 1987, but he kept her last name. He has a boy: Emil and a daughter, whose name and date of birth are unknown.

After his divorce with Nikki Landers, he lived with his Feeling B band mate Christian "Flake" Lorenz for a number of years. Paul has since had a daughter and remarried. He is the shortest member of the band (1.71m).

Equipment

Guitars
All guitars have EMG 81/60 pickups, unless noted

• Gibson Paul Landers Signature Satin Black with grey binding; has 2 chrome covered EMG pickups, chrome bezels, and one volume knob. Used in Dropped C and D tunings. First used during the Liebe Ist fur Alle Da tour. Was revealed as a signature model and for sale at the 2012 Winter NAMM show. (2009–2012)
• Gibson Les Paul Studio All black with EMG pickups. Used in Standard tuning for performing "Rammstein". Only used during the Reise, Reise tour. (2004–2005, Black).
• Music Man Axis and Van Halen Signature model Orange w/ Quilted maple top (Van Halen Signature), Silver (Van Halen Signature), Silver/Black Pickguard (Van Halen Signature), Maroon w/ Black pickguard, Black w/ White pickguard; Had stock DiMarzio pickups, but later changed for EMG pickups in 2004. Used in Dropped D and Standard tuning. This was his main guitar since the beginning of Rammstein, but was used less often during the Reise, Reise tour, and then completely phased out of his guitar rotation during the Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da Tour.(1994–2005)
• ESP Eclipse I CTM Paul Landers Signature Satin black with Silver binding, and a recently released version in Satin silver with Black binding, has EMG Pickups. Used in Standard tuning. First used on tour during the Liebe Ist fur Alle Da tour. (2009–2010)
• Sandberg Custom Plasma Guitar Clear acrylic guitar with unknown pickups (Possibly custom Sandberg pickups) and white LEDs inside of the body. This guitar was only used a few times during the Mutter tour for the song Zwitter, and he hasn't played it since. He can be seen using it on a bootleg DVD which contains a performance in Hamburg during the 2001 Mutter tour and a performance at the London Docklands during the 2002 Mutter tour.
• Ibanez AXS32 See-thru red with silver pickguard, used in Drop C. Was mostly used during the Reise, Reise tour for "Morgenstern" and "Stein um Stein." Has not been used since.
• ESP-LTD EC-50 Used as a prop instrument for the music video of "Mann gegen Mann".
• Fender Jazzmaster Used as a prop instrument for the music video of "Mein Land".

Amps

• Bogner Uberschall (He claims he began to use this amp because of the "Ultrasonic" Uberschall simulator in Native Instruments Guitar Rig)
• Tech 21 PSA-1 into Mesa/Boogie Strategy 500 Power amp
• Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
• Engl Powerball Amplifier
• Rath-Amp Amplification

Misc

• Marshall 4x12 Cabinets
• Bogner 4x12 "Uberkab" Cabinets
• Mesa Boogie 4x12 Cabinets
• Engl 4x12 Cabinets
• Native Instruments Guitar Rig
• Unknown octave effect used for the rhythm guitar parts of "Moskau"

External links

• Rammstein.com - Official site (English)
• Rammstein.de - Official site (German)
• Info on "Feeling B"
• "Feeling B" - Look out! We're coming to get you!
• Rammstein-Interviews.com
• Paul Landers on Twitter